On the disproportionate nature of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
I posted the following in reply to a fellow who stated that, with regards to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Israel was the underdog.
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Oh my goodness. Um, no.
While I am certainly not denying or defending attacks on Israelis, the scale of Israeli actions against Palestinians, as opposed to Palestinian action against Israelis, is incredibly skewed.
-For over 5 years, 1.6 million Palestinians have lived under an Israeli military blockade that has left more than one million people dependent on international humanitarian aid. More about this here.
-Troubled waters - Palestinians denied fair access to water. More about this here.
-Israel has a long history of appropriating (well, stealing, more accurately) Palestinian lands.
(1) 'Israel's Ulpana neighborhood is built on years of land theft and forgery'
(2) 'Legitimization of land theft. The theft of private land and lawless construction, with the authorities' collaboration, have long been routine in the land of the settlers'.
(3) 'Land expropriation and taking control of the land'.
-On the deportations of Palestinians (these ended *officially* in 1992 but are actually still ongoing).
-In 2011, the Palestinians killed 11 Israeli civilians. During the same year, Israeli security forces killed 115 civilians in the Gaza strip and the West Bank, according to B'Tselem.
I could go on, but these are just examples.
While I do sympathize with Israel with regards to their suffering, I also have to acknowledge, in all fairness, the disproportionate nature of this conflict.
(Opinions regarding this conflict's resemblance to the time of apartheid in South Africa.)
(1) http://www.middleeastmonitor.com/articles/africa/2059-apartheid-south-africa-and-israel-two-sides-of-the-same-coin
(2) http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/israel-is-new-south-africa-as-boycott-calls-increase-7813538.html
(3) http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/are-israel-and-apartheid-south-africa-really-different-1.265580